Pair of Arizona Cardinals land on Gil Brandt’s 2014 All-Rookie Team

By Adam Green | January 14, 2015 at 8:56 pmUPDATED: January 14, 2015 at 8:56 pm

The Arizona Cardinals got big-time contributions from many different players in 2014 on their way to an 11-win season as well as a playoff berth.

Two of those players, safety Deone Bucannon and kicker Chandler Catanzaro, made impacts as rookies, which is why they landed on NFL.com writer Gil Brandt’s 2014 All-Rookie Team.

On Bucannon, the team’s first-round pick, Brandt writes:

Bucannon is an in-the-box type safety who makes a lot of tackles (81) and is very aggressive. He’s more of a run-stopper than he is a space player, but in the type of defense the Cardinals played in 2014, that was fine. Bucannon might not be a perennial Pro Bowler, but he’ll start and play well for a number of years.

Bucannon also tallied two sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery while playing the “Dollar” linebacker role for Arizona.

He hit 29 of 33 field-goal attempts (87.9 percent), which is outstanding for a first-year pro. The strong-legged Catanzaro hit his first 17 field-goal attempts, tying an NFL record for consecutive field goals made to start a career.

Catanzaro also made all 27 of his PAT attempts while regularly placing his kickoffs deep into the end zone.